The Confident Co‐witness: The Effects of Misinformation on Memory After Collaborative Discussion
Published online on March 28, 2017
Abstract
We explored the influence of co‐witness confidence and misinformation on the accuracy of collaborative and individual memory reports. Participants viewed a robbery video and discussed the event with a co‐witness who was scripted to provide accurate or misleading details and to exhibit either high or low memory confidence. In a demonstration of memory conformity in co‐witness discussions, highly confident co‐witnesses who provided misleading or correct details led participants to report more misleading or correct information in both collaborative and individual reports. Furthermore, participants exhibited a confidence conformity effect, in which participants' confidence in their own memories mimicked the confidence of their co‐witnesses.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.